The three-game sweep of the NHL from Monday starts in Detroit where the Red Wings picked up their first win of the season, 5-1, over the Ottawa Senators.
Mike Green notched a hat trick, the fist in his career, to lead the Wings.
“I’ve never had a hat trick before, so that was a lot of fun,” Green said.
He was asked about a potential three-goal game before he joined the NHL a decade ago, but Green his head.
“Never,” he said. “Not anywhere.”
Senators goalie Andrew Hammond was the victim of Green’s heroics.
“Three goals from Mike Green,” Hammond said. “He certainly showed that he still has a lot of the ability from a few years ago. He was the difference in the game.”
Darren Helm picked up the other two goals for the Wings Tomas Vanek added three assists.
“We needed to win this game after what happened in Florida, but this was also a special night,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “A home opener is always different, but this was like a playoff game.”
Ryan Dzingel was the lone goal scorer for the Sens.
In Pittsburgh, the visiting Colorado Avalanche hung a 4-3 overtime loss on the Penguins.
The Avs’ Gabriel Landeskog scored twice, including the game-winner in OT, to lead the Colorado offense in a rally.
“I think the most important thing is getting the two points, at the end of the night,” Landeskog said. “Sure, it feels good to contribute, but at the end of the day, it’s a work ethic that you need to bring and the small details that you need to do on a daily basis to get the guys to follow you out there.”
Calvin Pickard got the win for the Avs in making 28 saves.
Trevor Daley, Phil Kessel and Matt Cullen scored for the Pens.
“[Cullen] just plays the game the right way, for me,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He plays hard. He’s a smart player. We can use him in all situations.”
Jarome Iginla and Patrick Wiercioch also scored for Colorado.
In New York, it has been the Chris Kreider show debuting on Broadway. Kreider had a goal and assist in the Rangers’ 7-4 win over the San Jose Sharks Monday. It was his third straight multi-point game.
Seven different Rangers scored in the game including Jimmy Vesey who notched his first career goal off a nifty pass from Derek Stepan in the low slot.
“Definitely just pure joy,” Vesey said. “I think I expressed it a little on the ice. I think I gave two fist pumps.”
Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello, Michael Grabner, Marc Staal, and Rick Nash all scored for the Rangers.
Antti Raanta made 27 saves for the win.
Brent Burns scored twice and Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture also scored for the Sharks who added three goals in the third period to make the more interesting before the Rangers potted two empty-net goals late.
“They’re the Stanley Cup finalist and they had one of the best road records last year, so we knew they were going to have a push; made it an exciting game,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said.
“Unfortunately they got a couple good opportunities in the third, but other than that I thought we played a real solid game.”
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